Vacaville City Council to discuss agreement between city, Vacaville Unified School District

Since 1998, the city of Vacaville and the Vacaville Unified School District have used each other's properties for meetings, recreational events and more.

The sharing is set to continue, officials said, but this time with a more formal agreement in place and for a much shorter duration.

The matter goes before the City Council at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chamber, 650 Merchant St.

In years past, the two entities were held to a joint facility-use agreement. And, they granted permission to local sports groups, such as Little League, to use their ball fields and other properties, too.

But the agreement ended in 2009, though the city and school district informally continued to share.

Meanwhile, both sides continued talks on "how the joint use of facilities could be achieved in a manner that was considered equitable by both parties," City Manager Laura Kuhn explained in a staff report. "Under the proposed new agreement ... the city and district would allow use of facilities free of charge, with a total value of all uses not to exceed $5,000. The value is based on the agency's adopted fee schedule for the facilities used."

The proposed term would apply to the current school year, Kuhn said, and could be renewed by mutual agreement.

In other matters, the council is also set to explore a new Jepson Parkway design concept.

Originally introduced in May, three issues were identified at the time: a yield-controlled roundabout at the Vanden Road/Leisure Town Road intersection; major intersection improvements at Alamo Drive, Elmira and Marshall roads; and access restrictions at various minor street intersections, according to a staff report.

Regarding the roundabout, officials have determined that a yield-controlled roundabout could help future service levels, improve the overall intersection delay and provide improved traffic safety over a signal-controlled intersection.

As for improvements, city staff advised that they would be made at major intersections along Jepson Parkway to address possible traffic impacts. The Jepson Parkway project is slated to widen four lanes of the Alamo Drive and Elmira Road intersections with Leisure Town Road and modify existing traffic signals, the staff report noted.

Various access restrictions are proposed for area intersections, as well.